Saturday, March 22, 2014

A Day at the Polynesian Cultural Center

Our first full day in Hawaii was a great educational and
cultural experience and I think we all had a really enjoyable time. The morning
started with breakfast at a spot called Eggs and Things. We each had eggs and
some kind of meat, and either potatoes or pancakes. We sat outside and across
the street was Waikiki Beach. We enjoyed the nice tropical air and watching the
people pass by.

After eating breakfast, we got in the rental car and headed
to the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) which was a little over and hour away.
On the way, we saw a sign for a Shrimp Shack and when we got to it, we stopped
so that Justin could grab something to eat. The Shrimp Shack was a food truck
and Justin had the coconut shrimp. He let me try one and it was very good. Once
Justin finished his meal, we jumped back in the car and headed back towards the
PCC.

My dad had booked our PCC tickets in advance so he picked
them up at Will Call and we were soon beginning our journey. The PCC has “villages”
of all the Polynesian islands on its 43 acre spread. The islands represented
were Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Tahiti, Hawaii, and New Zealand. Each island village
had shows and demonstrations throughout the day and all of them were extremely
interesting and informative.

The PCC opened at noon and the shows and demonstrations
ended at 5:00. We got to see everything but the movie that my dad wanted to
see. They also have a lagoon which runs through the middle of the place and we
took a canoe ride on it. It was nice and relaxing.

After we saw our last show of the day, we headed to the
Luau. The Luau we attended was put on by the Samoan village. There was
entertainment including a 13-year old boy who twirled some sticks of fire. They
gave some various groups of people headbands made from coconut leaves. My dad
got one because he has a March birthday. The food at the Luau was good. It was
buffet style and there was salad, rice, rolls, various meats and some dessert.

Once the Luau was over, we made our way over to the last
event of the night which was an hour and a half show called Ha, The Breath of
Life. All of the islands represented participated in the show and it was really
good. There was all kinds of dancing and singing and chanting and twirling of
fire. It was great.

The show wrapped up around 9:00 p.m. and then we headed back
to the hotel. We arrived back at the hotel around 10:30 and called it a night.
It was a really fun day!